Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Butantan Institute, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Toxicon. 2010 Jun 1;55(6):1045-60. doi: 10.1016/j.toxicon.2010.01.011. Epub 2010 Jan 28.
Crotoxin, the main toxin of South American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus terrificus) venom, was the first snake venom protein to be purified and crystallized. Crotoxin is a heterodimeric beta-neurotoxin that consists of a weakly toxic basic phospholipase A(2) and a non-enzymatic, non-toxic acidic component (crotapotin). The classic biological activities normally attributed to crotoxin include neurotoxicity, myotoxicity, nephrotoxicity and cardiotoxicity. However, numerous studies in recent years have shown that crotoxin also has immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-tumor and analgesic actions. In this review, we describe the historical background to the discovery of crotoxin and its main toxic activities and then discuss recent structure-function studies and investigations that have led to the identification of novel pharmacological activities for the toxin.
响尾蛇毒素，来自南美的响尾蛇（Crotalus durissus terrificus）毒液中的主要毒素，是第一个被纯化和结晶的蛇毒蛋白。响尾蛇毒素是一种异二聚体的β神经毒素，由一个弱毒性的碱性磷脂酶 A2 和一个非酶、无毒的酸性成分（crotapotin）组成。通常归因于响尾蛇毒素的经典生物学活性包括神经毒性、肌毒性、肾毒性和心脏毒性。然而，近年来的许多研究表明，响尾蛇毒素还具有免疫调节、抗炎、抗菌、抗肿瘤和镇痛作用。在这篇综述中，我们描述了响尾蛇毒素的发现及其主要毒性活性的历史背景，然后讨论了最近的结构-功能研究，这些研究导致了对该毒素新的药理学活性的鉴定。
